BREAKING: TRUMP VOWS TO “GET RID OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS”

GOP FRONTRUNNER THINKS PRESERVATION FINANCIALLY “WASTEFUL”

As reported early this morning by CNN and HuffPost, Donald Trump, in a phone interview with Fox News’ Steve Doocy, claimed as President of the United States, he would seek to cut-out all unnecessary spending. When pressed for specifics, the GOP frontrunner dismissively quipped, “Well, I think we spend way too much on organizations and departments that just ‘save’ stuff. For instance, I’d make a move to get rid of the Library of Congress.”

Trump continued, “Y’know what? Old books, decomposing newspapers, pansy artwork and a bunch of black and white movies about women and illegal immigrants have no business being “protected” with our hard-earned tax dollars. My first act as President would be to dissolve wasteful branches of government like the Library and that Kennedy Center for Peforming Arts stuff, and sell the material to China for huge profits.”

The statement caused a surprisingly quick response from Acting Librarian of Congress David S. Mao. Having just been named to the position by retired Congressional Librarian James H. Billington this past October, Mao did not foresee such inflammatory attention being brought to his doorstep so quickly, “The threat of dissolution of the Library of Congress is unprecedented,” Mao stated in a missive sent to AP. “It’s not within the scope of the Presidency to deny such funding.”

David S. Mao, Acting Librarian of Congress

Mao went on to define the depth and breadth, and impact such a cavalier undertaking could mean. “We are the largest library in the world, with over 162 million items. Books, films, photographs, audio recordings, maps and manuscripts, our collection is unprecedented. To lose these vital touchstones to all of civilization would be catastrophic.”

When asked to respond, Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, issued this statement: “The President of the United States appoints the Librarian of Congress and can just as easily “unappoint”him. Mr. Mao should be more concerned with his ancestry, which sounds a little Communistic, if anything.” CNN’s Anderson Cooper attempted to reach Lewandowski live on air following the statement, but was informed the campaign manager is currently focused on his arrest for battery against a female reporter.

As expected, the statement caused shockwaves across social media. Martin Scorsese, proponent for film preservation, immediately tweeted: “Inconceivable. Drumpf (referring to Trump’s real name) will destroy the United States of America as he dismantles our heritage.”

At press time, UCLA Film and Television Archives,AFI,The Paley Center for Media and the Hubbard Celebrity Centre International all chimed in with vows to step in and archive as many of the films involved as possible. Dr. Jan-Christopher Horak, UCLA Film and Television Archive Director issued this statement: “Edison Kinetoscopes, Citizen Kane, To Kill a Mockingbird, Lawrence of Arabia, I could go on and on. These are our International life’s blood. And that’s just the films. Only one of three known Gutenberg Bibles are housed in the Library of Congress. Mr. Trump is actually heralding the Apocalypse.”

Surprisingly , there were voices of support. When questioned, the Cruz Campaign commented, “We’re not ready to comment, however, the country needs to make some tough decisions, and the Library of Congress does fit the criteria of wasteful spending.”

The recently released “Rosa Parks Papers,” could potentially be on the “burn list”

Lou Lumenick, Entertainment Columnist for the New York post responded, “The entire movie industry has successfully transitioned to digital. There really is no reason to store so many prints of film.” He went on to observe, “Batman v Superman was shot, edited and shown without any film footprint at all. And that really is the apogee of moviemaking.”

We will continue to update this story as more information reaches us.

Over 700,000 rare books, including the recently acquired Thomas Jefferson library, could be sold to China, under Trump’s plan

Related Articles

Calling all Noah Baumbach fans! A24 presents a nationwide screening series celebrating 20 years of director Noah Baumbach’s films. The series, titled “Growing Up Baumbach,” will feature presentations of Kicking and Screaming (1995), The Squid and the […]

Share this:

Like this:

Much has happened quickly over the last four months. Progressives decry the end of Democracy as we know it, just as the other side celebrates the dismantling of our government and the disintegration of our supposed “core […]

This is the first I’ve heard of this one. Can’t find it anywhere else… maybe it’s made up? I doubt we the people would ever let this happen. Mr. Trump talks off the top of his head sometimes (remember he’s not a professional politician) & once he has a chance to think it over; he’ll change his mind.

Get Social With Us!

In recent months, the Criterion Collection has released two films from the 1980s that are about the art of storytelling. The first, Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride (1987), is a beloved Hollywood classic, based on [...]

[This review was begun the same day as the Oct. 27, 2018 Tree of Life shooting.] They killed eleven Jews in Pittsburgh today, gunned down in their synagogue as they prayed round their holy scriptures. [...]

Gloria Grahame may not seem to fit alongside the women we typically feature in this column — she didn’t found her own company, become a director, break any particular barriers, or do significant philanthropic work. [...]

Link TV, the national independent non-commercial satellite television network, is premiering a new weekly international film series this Thursday called CINEMONDO that brings cinema from around the world to foreign movie fans. Share this:TweetEmailMoreShare on TumblrLike [...]

The Bruno Walter Auditorium is home to the Silent Clowns Film Series, which boasts itself as “New York’s longest-running regularly scheduled silent film showcase.” For twenty years now, the series has provided the public with [...]

About Us

The Retro Set is dedicated to deeply personal, in-depth reflections of the films that define us. We believe that the moving image is one of the most powerful forms of artistic expression in existence and ours is an inexhaustible mission to better understand that art form through an open forum of candid conversation and observation.